LAS VEGAS — The Winnipeg Jets find themselves in unfamiliar territory and if they don’t find a way to solve Marc-Andre Fleury, they could quickly find themselves in an uncomfortable position.

For the first time in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Jets have dropped consecutive games.

Since scoring three times in fewer than eight minutes of the series opener, the Jets have given up the first goal in consecutive games and have been struggling to impose their collective will — until the third period of Wednesday’s game.

But thanks to a brilliant 33-save performance from Marc-Andre Fleury, it was a matter of too little too late for the Jets as they fell 4-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights

“Nope, there’s no such thing as close to perfect or perfect hockey,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. “Hockey is one of the most imperfect games there is because you’ve got a puck bouncing all over the place. They’re not playing perfect hockey. They’re playing really well because they’re a very good team. You put yourself in a tough position when you’re down by a couple goals on the road, tough environment against a good team. So, the onus is on us to get off to a better start.”

With the win, the Golden Knights take a 2-1 series lead, with Game 4 set for Friday night at T-Mobile Arena.

How the Jets respond to this latest round of adversity could mean the difference between a quick series and one that could potentially go the distance.

What the Golden Knights have shown the world through the first three games of this series is that their opponent is going to need to play its best game in order to beat them.

Even during the moments where things appear to be going sideways, the Golden Knights have been able to lean on Fleury to keep them on top.

Jets centre Mark Scheifele scored another two goals in what has been a remarkable run during these playoffs, moving his league-leading total to 14.

But that was all the Jets could manage.

“We’re in the conference finals. They’re a good team, too,” said Scheifele, who set an NHL record with his 11th playoff goal on the road. “They’re going to have their games, we’re going to have our games. We can’t sulk on this too long. We’ve got to pick ourselves up.”

The Jets were forced to make an unexpected lineup change when forward Nikolaj Ehlers was unable to play because of an undisclosed ailment, inserting Jack Roslovic for the first time since Game 3 against the Nashville Predators last round.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said he knew Ehlers would be unavailable to play after the morning skate, but shed no light on the ailment that kept him out or whether he might be available when the series resumes.

Earlier in the series, Maurice was asked about the lack of secondary scoring and he made it clear he wasn’t too concerned — mostly because the team was still finding a way to win.

But after dropping the past two games, it’s an issue — even if Maurice isn’t about to call out his charges for the limited production.

That’s not his style and he’s not about to start now.

“In a game when you lose by a goal, basically you’re looking for more,” said Maurice.

The other area the Jets need a boost is in goal, where Hellebuyck is getting outplayed for the first time in these playoffs.

It’s not like Hellebuyck has been poor or has been giving up an abundance of soft goals, but the guy at the other end of the rink has been just that much better.

If the Jets want to even this series on Friday night in Game 4 before it shifts back to Winnipeg, Hellebuyck is going to need to elevate his game and come up with a few more saves.

Hellebuyck coughed up the puck behind the net and allowed the Golden Knights to build a 3-1 lead as Erik Haula found James Neal for an easy tap-in at 5:40 of the second period.

“The guy knocked it out of mid-air. He made a good play on it,” said Hellebuyck, who made 27 saves. “I’ve been doing that all year long. It’s unlucky that he knocked that one down. I don’t know that he was even looking. He might have just swung his stick at it. But good play on him. I’m going to clean that one up. I haven’t given it away too many times this year. So we’ve got to put that one behind us.”

After talking about the importance of having a fast start, the Jets turned the puck over in the neutral zone on the opening shift and Jonathan Marchessault scored 35 seconds into the contest.

Although the Jets found a way to get their feet under them, they weren’t able to generate much offence, as they were limited to only three shots on goal in the first period.

In many ways, the Jets were fortunate to be down only one goal after 20 minutes of play.

The Jets got a redirection from Scheifele to pull even at 5:28 of the second period, but the game was tied for only 12 seconds before Neal put the Golden Knights back on top.

Neal set up Alex Tuch in front a few shifts later as the Golden Knights built a two-goal cushion.

The Jets had an opportunity to pull within one during a power play late in the second period, but Patrik Laine ripped a shot off the post.

Winnipeg made it a one-goal game 18 seconds into the third period as Kyle Connor found Scheifele alone in front to put a little heat on.

The Jets had numerous opportunities to even the score, but Fleury stood tall.

Marchessault scored into the empty-net with 2.7 seconds to go to give him four goals in the series and eight in the playoffs.

“We’re getting our mindsets right and that’s important,” Hellebuyck said. “It’s not like we just lost the series, we lost another game. And that’s no big deal. We’re going to put it behind us and we’re going to keep fighting.”

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